Do you think it's wrong for people to buy must have toys and sell them at huge profit on EBay etc?

[lottieandmia22]

I do. I think it’s pretty mercenary.

Yes it’s the amount. Charging multiples of what the toy is worth.

Gherkin, there are toy shops all over the country and they don't all sell the same toys and they don't all sell the toys at the same price. Shops exist to make a profit for their owners and they do that by providing goods that people want to buy. No one knows what price an independent trader / ebayer was able to buy X toy for, so who knows what profit he is making. The point is that no has to buy the stuff.

My DS craves an ipad. I say, sorry DS, I can't afford to buy you one. He sighs sadly but accepts that this is the way of the world.

The ebayer could probably put X toy on at 99p in an auction and some one could still end up paying over the odds for it, because there is a demand. Was the ebayer wrong to put it on for 99p, or was the silly sod who payed £40 for a £20 toy wrong? Neither, it is just what happens in a free market.

Well of course That's the option that I would hope that most people would take in that sort of situation.

There’s only a certain number of Hatchimals or whatever.. how should they be allocated?

The company manufactures them for £20 say, and retails them for £150. Is that unethical? Should the company sell them only for £25 so everyone rich or poor has access to them?

And if they do, then you end up with a long line outside the store the day they are being released.. so again only parents who can afford for one person to spend hours in a queue get one. What about a single mum working two jobs - her kids don’t deserve a happy Christmas?

What’s to say if I’ve saved up all year and want to spend £400 on a hatchimal but can’t go to the store etc, the eBay seller is doing me a service effectively right? I may not get access to it any other way.

Clearly with parents willing to pay these prices the sellers have cottoned onto a service that is worthwhile for them to provide.

I think overall it’s easier to just wean a kid off plastic rubbish than moan about toy manufacturers or eBay sellers or anyone in between. Also all the well off parents I know never buy their kids this stuff. Just another way in which poorer people are exploited by capitalism. Resist the rubbish by just opting out of the system OP!

I’m conflicted about selling on for a huge profit tbh. There is a seller on Ebay who has multiples of the ‘must have’ toys for this Christmas, the LOL big surprise balls, Luvabella dolls, The retro Nintendo etc he has loads of auctions running at the same time. He is making on average £50/60 per toy but on some auctions more. I know he’s doing nothing wrong but if he’s buying all of them for RRP just to sell on it doesn’t sit well with me tbh, the same people that are buying from him would be the same people that are trying to buy them from shops.

I’m still amazed by the attached picture.

The toy companies that I work with are very good at making sure they aren't stuck with stock, and the retailers are.

They'll create the demand, and yet not have the stock available. You ask them when the stock will be in, and they'll give a future date with pre-orders accepted only.

So all the retailers panic, and place their large orders, believing they will be popular.

Toy company have pre-sold everything they have coming in, and it's down to the retailers to sell or not.

Plus their trade prices are shocking. There isn't the margin that you think there is.

With the eBayers, I guess they are one off sales. They're not going to be millionaires from it.

The real issue does lie with the toy manufacturers.

In general the real issues lie with the fat cats, and not Mrs Jones who made £30 profit off a popular toy.

Jesus wept, why would anyone spend that amount on a toy - looking at that Luvabella thing? Just why?

I must admit to walking past a whole shelf of Luvabella dolls and briefly thinking about buying a couple to sell on! I didn’t though.
However I can’t get mad at those that do, it’s how selling works you buy and then sell on at a profit! If people are prepared to pay over the RRP then it’s up to them?

* Someone was selling Luvabella for £900 on eBay.*

No someone was advertising the luvabella for £900. I highly doubt they sold it for that.

Last year I bought a hatchimal as soon as they were released. My dc didn’t mention it so I decided not to keep it, too late to return so sold it on eBay. Yes I made a healthy profit on it, but not all those who sell bought with the intention to do so. Sometimes it’s just buying to make sure you have them just in case.

As for the big LOL surprise, yes it was very obvious that is was going to be the huge seller before it was released. Hence why toys r us were doing preorders and limiting to one per customer. I doubt my dc even know what a LOL doll is yet even I was aware they would be big just by seeing posts on social media. If you didn’t pre-empt that and order in advance well that’s tough. Early bird catches the worm and all that. And I’ve checked on eBay, they are only selling for £80. After fees i doubt the seller would have made more then £10 profit.

You snoozed, you loosed. Sorry

The £995 Luvabella is still on Ebay as are the £750 ones. Tbh the ones at the moment seem to be selling for around £50 more than the rrp price. I’m sure as the months go on people will start paying more for them, as the stocks get less but demand increases.

Luvabella doll looks hideous. Worth about £20.

And cue all the reviews ‘don’t know what it’s like as it’s for Christmas, but looks great’ 5 stars

I paid over the odds by about thirty quid for a Mini SNES, yes it's a bit of a ball ache but thems the breaks. DS thinks he isn't getting it as I made it clear there aren't many about. It will be a nice surprise but he understood that you can't have everything you ask for.

I don't blame the seller for inflating the price, I blame Nintendo for deliberately limiting stocks to create the inflated market and myself for not acting sooner when I got the alert email from Nintendo. Being upset with market forces is a bit silly and like pissing in the wind.

At the moment they are £80 but as Christmas draws closer they will be 2 and 3 times the cost.

It depends. I would have said it's just capitalism, but then I do look down on the people who buy a shitload of concert tickets and hawk them for hundreds. It's the way of the world unfortunately.

I personally wouldn't do this with children's toys, but I have done with the H&M designer collaborations, and I've seen people moaning on Instagram about that today. Unfortunately it is a very easy way to make a decent amount of money, with very little risk to the seller, as if they don't sell the item they can return it to the shop and get their initial 'investment' back and have 28 days in which to do so. If people are willing to pay over the odds for something then other people are going to take advantage of that. I started doing it when I was a teenager and it gave me a good amount of money to spend and to save, I had £5k by the time I went to university and made another £2k once there doing the same thing. I was queuing up from 4am though at this time of year, which isn't pleasant, but it was worth it for the astronomical profits. More fool the buyer if they will pay £400 for something that cost me £100 to buy. They could have queued if they wanted it at cost price.

I think it is the toy manufacturers that are to blame, they must know long before christmas that their product is in high demand, but they don't produce enough. But in the case of H&M it must be deliberate in order to create more hype around the product.

Look love, you post it here and call people assorted then expect it back

And yes I’ll judge. Not your kid tho

This year DD wanted an LOL Big Surprise. I ordered on from Smyths and Amazon as a backup. They both came at the same time. I stuck one on eBay starting at £60 to recover my loss and it sold for £125. I used the money towards DD's new bed. I don't feel bad because I started the bidding off at the price I paid.

More fool the parents who are willing to pay the stupid prices. If they've raised spoilt kids who demand the latest piece of plastic crap then they've only got themselves to blame.

Good for you marble! And why not!

It's funny this came up...
Neither of my kids (both boys) have ever requested the must-have toy but I've bought plenty of them simply to help other people out.

I'm good at sourcing stuff. I have accounts everywhere. And I hate being ripped off.

I got 9 hatchimals last year. Made no profit. I charge the price I paid. So far this year I have placed orders for 10 lols, received 4, one on the way, the rest due by Christmas.

Last Christmas Eve I met a stranger in asda carpark to swap a purple hatchimal for a green one.

People ask why the hell I can be bothered, but it's partly the thrill of the chase and then in snowballs and somebody's friend/cousin/sister needs one too.

I never pay over the odds either. Cost price or nothing.

I don’t see a problem with it to be honest. It’s all about supply and demand and if people really want something it pushes the price up. If people are willing to pay stupid money for something, so be it.

I freely admit I have done it a few times and made profit from “must have toys” - I have done it this year with Mini SNES. I have also had to pay above RRP for stuff - if you want something that is in demand, you pay.

Don’t call me ‘love’ running. And don’t patronise. What do you mean I call people assorted? It’s rude to look up people’s previous posts and bring them up on another thread and have a go at me for letting my child watch YouTube. I guess you are someone who sells toys otherwise why would you need to be personal.

NeverTalksToStrangers - that is really sweet. I got a LOL doll for my friends dd. I find it more rewarding and in the spirit of Christmas to help people out than fleece them. People like me don’t make good entrepreneurs 😂

Marble - I think it’s different when people just happen to bid high. I don’t have a problem with that.